The next day at dawn, the entire Tanzanian army pulled out of Dodoma and resumed its march. The last traces of the city soon vanished behind us, replaced by a picturesque expanse of plains, hills, and sheer cliffs. We followed the winding road, drawing ever closer to the Karusha region.

We were on the outskirts of Selegma's encampment. Just as I was thinking it was about time for them to show up…

'Krieeee!'

We came face-to-face with a black tide of monsters. Their numbers were impossible to count—a seemingly endless horde. It was as if every last monster in the northern region had been scraped together for this single assault.

"…This is a nightmare," someone muttered.

I agreed. The enemy's numbers were so immense that anyone would want to escape reality, even for a moment. It was the kind of nightmare you'd desperately wish to wake from.

"Let's go." With battle imminent, Hong Yeon's demeanor turned ice-cold. She stepped out of the vehicle and raised a hand to her earpiece. "All forces, prepare for battle."

The troops moved swiftly. The armored units took up positions at set intervals while the infantry filled the gaps between them, setting up barricades at the front. Our one silver lining was that we had cleared all the living field from the path behind us, so the chance of being attacked from the rear was low. We only needed to worry about the front and the flanks.

"Dispatched forces, prepare for battle," Hakan's voice crackled over the radio as he formed up his own ranks. The Tanzanian army was on the right, the dispatched forces on the left. I still thought it was inefficient, but there was nothing to be done about it now. If we didn't join forces and fight, everyone here would end up as a slurry of slime plastered across the ground.

'Scrieee!'

The monsters began their advance, slowly closing the distance. Everyone swallowed hard and stared straight ahead.

"Prepare to fire," Hong Yeon commanded.

The soldiers with mana rifles took their stances, aiming at the monsters through their sights. Hundreds of cannons swiveled toward the horde.

"Ready to fire. Awaiting the order."

Hong Yeon took a long, deep breath, then spoke in a calm tone.

"Commence bombardment."

I covered my ears. A deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth swept over us as hundreds of cannons opened fire in unison. Clouds of explosions erupted one after another in the middle of the black monster horde, blasting the swarm apart and spraying blood in every direction.

"Krieeeeeeeeeee!"

The monsters began to charge, weathering the full firepower of the tanks and self-propelled guns. They rapidly closed the distance until they were finally within rifle range.

"Open fire!" an officer yelled.

This time, the rifles of the front-line infantry spat fire. The monsters that had survived the artillery were pierced by bullets that tore through their skin and armor. They vomited blood and collapsed. Not only the expensive mana rifles but even regular rifles were quite effective against them. While a considerable number of monsters below rank-4 were immune to conventional firearms, most of those were found in dungeons. taves were not among them. Humanity's conventional firepower was working perfectly.

"Fire!"

"Unload everything!"

Not a single monster could get close before being cut down. Seeing humanity's weapons work, seeing their own attacks hit their marks, a grim sense of satisfaction replaced the fear on everyone's faces.

"At this rate, it seems we won't get a turn," Karim muttered, crossing her arms. The hunters all stood still. With the monsters being mowed down as they came, there was no need for them to step in. Time passed without a single casualty. To be honest, it would be best if the battle ended with conventional firepower alone.

'Chzzt!'

"Commander Hong Yeon! The enemy's strength is less than expected! Let's advance! Let's push through and secure our victory!"

It was Hakan's voice. Hong Yeon, who had been surveying the battlefield, tapped her earpiece.

"Negative. There's no need to break our current advantageous position. Let's continue to monitor the situation."

"This is a waste of firepower! There's a limit to our ammunition and shells, so we need to make the most of our firepower!"

"Central forces, cease fire. We will hold our position with fire from the front and rear lines and prepare for a protracted battle," Yeon commanded.

"Commander Hong Yeon!" Hakan protested.

This is what happens when you have two commanders with equal authority in a single unit. Still, if one were to strictly follow the chain of command, Hong Yeon, as the supreme commander of the Tanzanian Front, outranked the commander of the dispatched forces. Hakan knew this well and wasn't foolish enough to defy her orders and act alone. He seemed to be reluctantly following her command.

But there was no way Legion Commander Selegma would be defeated this easily.

"G-gaaaaaaaah!" a scream suddenly erupted from the radio.

Startled, I whipped my head around.

The ground in front of the forward line heaved, and a monster covered in white scales erupted right in front of a tank.

"A-A company captain!" a soldier screamed.

Over thirty company captains burst from the ground and began to rampage. Tank barrels were bent like straws or shattered by the monsters' powerful arms. The terrified soldiers fired their mana rifles, but a company captain was a rank-5 monster. Neither regular nor mana rifles had any effect.

"Krriee!" A company captain thrust its hand into a tank's armor and ripped out the pilot's head.

The surrounding soldiers fired their mana rifles, but the monster advanced as if the shots were mere tickles and swung its arm.

Suddenly, the company captain's arm flew into the air. Scorpion, charging from the side, had swung his massive scissor-sword. A third of the company captain's torso was sheared off, and it writhed in agony. With a clean, fluid motion, Scorpion lopped off its head and shouted, "Hunters, engage!"

"H-14 and 15 teams, going in!"

Finally, it was the hunters' turn. Led by Scorpion, the hunters of the Tanzanian legion began to carve through the company captains. But in the brief moment the front line fell into chaos and their firepower was interrupted, the monsters surged forward like a tidal wave.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Don't let them get close!"

"Guard team, forward! Prepare for close-quarters combat!"

Ultimately, a chaotic melee erupted. Selegma was playing a high-stakes game, sacrificing its elite company captains just to push the attack.

"Yusin sunbae, I'm going too," Hong Yeon said, drawing her sword. "I'm leaving the command to you."

"No, no. Leave those small fry to the other hunters. You should…"

The middle of the cliff on our flank exploded, and a monster in the shape of a giant serpent shot out. It wiped out an entire platoon just by charging with its massive body, then proceeded to devour a whole tank. Judging by its mana, it was a rank-6 monster—a centurion commander.

"Right," I said. "You should be fighting something like that instead."

"I'll be back. Please be safe."

"You be careful too."

Hong Yeon left to face the serpent, and I took command in her place.

"This is Captain Kim. The enemy is attacking from the flanks as well as the front. Switching to Plan G." I paused, then added, "At times like this, we must be diligent in removing the living field. Even in a melee, as long as we're not standing on it, we'll be fine."

No sooner had I given the order than something came flying from the sky: sacs filled with pulsating spores that gave off a foul stench.

"What is that?!"

"Watch out!"

They fell into our formation. The soldiers doused in the foul-smelling liquid retched and writhed in agony.

'What is it? It doesn't seem to be an offensive weapon.'

Then I heard through my earpiece, "This is HQ-3! A large-scale living field is spreading where the stench sacs landed!"

"They keep coming from above!"

The living field spread beneath our feet. The monsters, treading on the corrupted ground, rampaged even more fiercely. I bit my lip hard. Evolving monsters, they said, but this was too much. Had they really come up with a countermeasure just because we tried to exploit the living field once?

'As I thought.'

In that moment, I made a resolution. I would completely annihilate not only Legion Commander Selegma but all taves from the face of the Earth. If these things were left alone, they would endlessly evolve and become humanity's greatest enemy. In the worst-case scenario, the world might not be destroyed by a disaster, but by the taves monsters that escaped Africa. Nuking the continent? There was a two-hundred-percent chance that a radiation-resistant variant would emerge. Right here, right now, they had to be wiped out, root and stem. It was a stroke of luck that I was dispatched to Africa at this time.

'Chzzt!'

"This is F-4 Team! We've just eliminated Plant 1," Na Daeyong reported. I switched my earpiece channel.

"Daeyong, are all your team members safe?"

"Yes! The monsters were all gathered at the center, so the plant's defenses were relatively weak! But the next one, Plant 2, is being guarded by a centurion commander, so with our strength alone…!"

I chewed my thumbnail, thinking. There was no other choice. I switched the channel again.

"Hunter Samia. Do you read me?"

"Ah, is this Hunter Kim Yusin? I just destroyed Plant 9 and was about to report."

"If you teleport to Plant 1, you'll find the mercenaries I hired. Give them my name, take command, and eliminate Plant 2. They're certified rank-5 hunters, so they won't be a hindrance."

"Mercenaries? When did you hire people like that?"

"It would take too long to explain."

"Hmm. Well, if they are certified hunters, they won't be a hindrance. Understood."

"I'm counting on you."

There were ten plants in Karusha. I had already sent out commando units, but it was too much for them to destroy them all on their own. Bringing the Fourth Floor Team was a good move.

I looked around. It was a melee, but the formation wasn't collapsing; they were somehow holding firm. The living field bombardment from above was certainly problematic, but if we kept removing the filth at our feet as quickly as possible, we could endure.

"This is the commander. Serpent-form centurion commander, cleared," Hong Yeon's voice came through.

"This is Wayne! I've taken down four company captains!"

The hunters were in their element, and the infantry and armored corps were also holding their own. The strength of the Tanzanian Front was more robust than I had thought.

'Time for me to start.'

This was the first time I would use magic since coming here. I raised both arms like a conductor. Fifth-order magic was out of the question. I could wipe them all out at once with Volcano Ground, but what good would that be if I just collapsed again? We had more than enough firepower with the current armored units.

<Gaia>

My job was support and the removal of the living field.

"Let's go, Ea."

"Yes, Tower Master."

We resonated, controlling the very ground of the battlefield.

'Jjeojeok! Kuguk!'

It was difficult even for Gaia to do anything about the living field once it had spread. I abandoned the goal of controlling the entire battlefield and focused instead on halting its advance at the very front lines—front, rear, and flanks.

"The formation is the absolute top priority," I broadcasted. "Getting caught in a melee is Selegma's intention. Think simply. Retreat from the living field, and fight on solid ground."

As I held back the growth of the living field with Gaia, the formation stabilized. Soldiers with shields planted them at the border between the living field and solid ground, holding their position while firepower poured over them. The hunters took care of the company captains, and the armored units, having regained their footing, unleashed a sustained barrage. The rear units swiftly removed the living field that had spread inside our lines.

We could hold. If we just kept this up, they would soon reach their limit.

* * *

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.